PEARL RIVER – Sitting in his office at Pearl River High on Thursday afternoon, Todd Santabarbara found himself in a state of reflection.

A daunting task lies ahead for the soon-to-be leader of Section 1 Athletics — and he knows it. He admits it will come with a fair share of uncertainty.

In order to succeed, he’s stressing the importance of learning as he goes and seeking input from all parties involved.

“I tend to do quite a bit of reflecting, and each experience has given me something to reflect upon – whether it be identify strengths within that particular incident, or an opportunity to grow and learn from,” he said. “I do embody that idea of life-long learning, and I take it to heart.”

At just 37 years old, Santabarbara is set to take over for Jennifer Simmons as Section 1’s next executive director. He’s been in a position of leadership since he was in his late-20s, having just entered his ninth year as Pearl River’s athletic director, but this new role will carry much more responsibility.

He’ll start on Nov. 26 and work with Simmons until her retirement at the end of March. At that point, he’ll become the face of one of New York state’s largest high school sports organizations, which spans Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, as well as parts of Dutchess.

“I was ecstatic,” Santabarbara said of receiving the news last week. “It’s a great opportunity, both personally and professionally. I’m excited to work with fellow colleagues and help to move Section 1 along in a way that’s going to benefit each and every membership school’s athletic program that we serve. It’s exciting. It’s still settling in.”

As he finishes his final few months at Pearl River and prepares to work on behalf of all of Section 1, Santabarbara sat down with The Journal News/lohud to outline his plans and discuss his vision for the section.

Three core values

Santabarbara stressed three “core values” that will shape his leadership style, which he identified as relationships, communication and collaboration.

“It starts with relationships,” he said, noting that he’ll need to “build genuine, strong, working relationships with a variety of stakeholders.”

Communication from Section 1 was one of the main issues that administrators pointed to during the 2017-18 school year, which was accentuated when the section decided to move its basketball championships away from the Westchester County Center, which had hosted the games since 1933.

“The communication piece is… thinking of ways that we, as a section, can tell our story and educate the public; share information and highlight our student achievements,” said Santabarbara, who grew up in Rotterdam, NY and played college football at Ithaca. “Maybe it’s starting a Twitter platform, maybe it’s a seasonal newsletter, maybe it’s finding ways to utilize our website. That’s a critical component that aligns with the idea of opening the doors.”

As for collaborating with various administrators around the section, Santabarbara said he views that as his top priority.

“I think it's really sitting down and collaborating with those various committees and listening and learning and hearing from them as to what their needs are, and what is important to them,” he said. “I’m here to listen. I’m here to learn in the transition process. Without the collaboration piece, you’re not going to have a streamlined process.”

Defining the relationship between Section 1 and BOCES

While Santabarbara will represent Section 1 as its executive director, he will technically be an employee of Southern Westchester BOCES.

SWBOCES is the organization responsible for collecting dues from member schools and paying for Section 1’s services, but the specifics of the relationship between the two organizations remain unclear.

Santabarbara admitted the need for more clarification.

“They’re two separate entities, but yet there is some parallel,” he said. “While I would report to Southern Westchester BOCES and (Chief Operating Officer) Jackie O’Donnell there, within Section 1, I report to the executive committee, which is comprised of superintendents, principals, athletic administrators. Part of that transition period is going to be learning a bit more about what that looks like and how that operates on the back end. That’s something I’m hoping to gain a better understanding of and probably need to do a little more homework on; learning about how the two are streamlined.”

County Center status

There has been no official decision made about whether the basketball championships will return to the County Center this winter, and while Santabarbara will have to wait until late-November to get directly involved in the process, he did say, “I think anything is possible.”

He also noted that it’s “a little too early for me to give a genuine answer.”

“I understand that it’s a topic very close to many school communities, and I recognize that there’s great passion and history there,” he said. “I think the important thing for me is to have the time to be able to have the conversations with a variety of stakeholders; to be able to sit down and learn what is important to them. …

"Let’s take a look at all of our section championships. What are the strengths of our championships, how can we improve and what are the opportunities for growth? It’s definitely a bigger conversation.”

Section 1 nearing vote on updated constitution

Santabarbara was a part of the committee put together to review Section 1’s constitution over the summer.

The updated version has now been shared with all member schools for the “open comment period,” which gives administrators an opportunity to offer feedback about potential changes.

“The intended purpose, I do believe, we’re working toward achieving,” Santabarbara said. “That’s not to redefine how the section is run, but to take a look at how the section has evolved over time and provide some clarity, outline responsibilities and process as it relates to the work we currently do. … It’s really an opportunity to streamline things and make an outdated document that much more efficient.”

To be ratified, the constitution will need a majority vote. The ballot will require signatures from the superintendent, principal and athletic director of each school.